Niue rugby league coach Brendan Perenara say their victory over the Philippines at the weekend is another important step in the country's international development.
The Rock won 36-22 in Wentworthville to build on last year's narrow defeat to Vanuatu.
Prior to that Niue had spent close to a decade in the international wilderness but Brendan Perenara
is confident they can continue to build from here.
"They're the Asian Cup champions and it's good to keep them out of the Pacific Ocean for now and I suppose we're going to see where we're going to go from here. The game was played at a good level - it's good that we're all playing on a regular basis, all us minnows. We're in the same boat, we're trying to get up their into the second tier or even to the World Cup status".
Brendan Perenara says Niue plans to enter two teams in next year's Cabramatta Nines pre-season tournament, as well as a team in the Nines competition at the Pacific Games in Port Moresby.
